Peace Jade & Swarovski Crystal Bracelet

Aaah, peace jade, also known as harmony jasper. I love the green stone with flecks of white and lavender. Along with the harmony jasper, I included light Amethyst round Swarovski crystal and bali silver spacers. The bracelet is finished with a sterling flower toggle. After spending a great deal of time in my studio, I noticed everything I made that night had a theme of green and purple! I really like combining those two colors.

Pretty in Pink Lampwork Bracelet & Earrings Set

I love this set! A friend of mine spotted the pink dotted lampwork beads at a bead show in Cincinnati. Unfortunately, there was only one strand. I paired them up with a frosted white glass beads, some Swarovski crystal AB bicones, bali silver spacers and a heart toggle. Very romantic!

My Intro

This is the introduction I wrote for our etsy eSMArts team blog. Thought I would post it here as well.

My name is Kim Ries with Creative Eye Studio and I am from Louisville, KY. I have been creating jewelry for the past two years, but have enjoyed being creative all my life. I took drawing and painting classes in high school and college, but had a long span of non-productivity. In the late 90’s I rediscovered my interest in art with photography, rubber stamps, collage and altered art. I always purchased beads when something pretty caught my eye and I would hoard them for future art projects like tags or handmade books. Even when I was not creating jewelry I was buying beads. After taking a basic jewelry making class with a friend, I was hooked. This led to a 6 week metalsmithing class, a silversmithing class and a lampwork bead class. After taking the lampwork bead class, I must admit I have a new appreciation for this art form. It takes a great degree of patience and skill! I am anxious to work with metal clay, but need to convince my husband exactly why I “need” a kiln.

With these classes, I have learned new techniques and styles to integrate into my designs. In April of this year, I received a BS degree in Marketing. I plan to use this degree not only in my regular day job, but also to help promote my jewelry business.

Inspiration for my designs is found in different color combinations, items found in nature, earthy elements, etc. I would describe my design style as elegant, feminine and classic. I like to use sterling silver and copper, natural gemstones, furnace glass, fresh water pearls and Swarovski crystal in my designs.

I love photography and am learning to use a new Nikon digital SLR camera. I can't tell you how many perfect photos I've captured with my eyes but did not have the camera with me. It's hard to turn off that moment when you see a perfect picture in architecture or nature. And it’s a lot of fun to combine my love for photography with the jewelry. Two art forms in one! I just started a Photoshop class this week and am hoping to learn more about editing my pictures. It seems I will always be taking a class in something, and the retreats that Auggie described this week in our team blog sound very intriguing. I feel ongoing learning is a part of the process where we grow and get better at our craft, and have some fun along the way.

I am so grateful to the eSMArtsteam for the encouragement and knowledge about online marketing. My head is swimming most days with all the new things I have learned about blogs, etsy, technorati, squidoo, etc. And to think last month I had never heard of technorati and squidoo. When I lay down at night, my head is filled with all the new things I’ve learned in just the past month or so. I know that I need encouragement to motivate me to move forward and am so happy to be a part of the team. In the individual member blogs, you will notice that the talent level of the team is quite high. This too, gives the rest of us motivation and inspiration in our future designs…to be the best we can be!

Amethyst crystal & sterling leverback earrings

I began experimenting with a new camera shortly after I created these earrings. I am pretty happy with the results but need to work on the shadows in the background. These are glass beads with a sterling silver bead cap on the bottom and Amethyst Swarovski crystal bicones. I really like lever backs as a way to dress them up a bit!